MLS Reserve League Recap - RSL 0 : 1 SKC

REAL SALT
LAKE FALLS TO SPORTING KANSAS CITY 1-0 IN MLS RESERVE LEAGUE PLAY

Late
Penalty by Davy Arnaud Claims Full Points for Visitors;

RSL Defender Tony Beltran Suffers Left Adductor Strain, Out 2-4 Weeks

LEHI,
Utah (Sunday, September 18, 2011) – Visiting
Sporting Kansas City secured all three points in MLS Reserve League play this
morning at XanGo Field via a 1-0 victory over their counterparts from Real Salt
Lake. The squads played a similar match to their regular season affair the
night before, full of hard tackles, dangerous set piece opportunities and a
lone goal making the difference, but this time it was the visitors claiming the
full points courtesy of midfielder Davy Arnaud’s late penalty kick conversion.

With
its second straight win, Sporting KC Reserves moved to 3-2-2 and 11 points on
the season and remain in the hunt for the Central/Mountain Division crown,
while Real Salt Lake Reserves’ second defeat in a row kept the side on six
points from eight contests (2-6-0).

The
teams played a scoreless first half, with most of the opportunities coming from
free kicks, including a 20th minute strike by Real Salt Lake
midfielder Arturo Alvarez which missed just right and a shot by Sporting
midfielder Jeferson that forced RSL
goalkeeper Tim Melia to make a save.

RSL’s
best chance of the day came on an attempt from forward Jean Alexandre in the 73rd
minute. Alexandre, who was forced to play three positions on the day – center
back, forward and right back – through substitutions and a late injury to Tony
Beltran, saw his break away on goal thwarted by an alert Eric Kronberg in the
Sporting KC goal. Beltran suffered a left adductor strain around the 80th minute, forcing the versatile outside back to miss 2-4 and RSl to play the remainder of the match a man down.

Sporting
Kansas City increased its pressure on Real Salt Lake’s goal during the second
half, but did not manage to hit the back of the net until late in regulation, the
scoring opportunity being set up when Melia tripped up Sporting KC forward
Soony Saad after the rookie had beaten the RSL backline and broke in alone on
goal. The resulting penalty was converted by Arnaud in the 88th
minute, his confident strike into the upper left corner beating Melia for the
game’s only goal.

Today’s
contest saw midfielder Yordany Alvarez once again join the Claret-and-Cobalt,
his third Reserve League appearance marking his first official match in an RSL
uniform after signing with the Utah side earlier in the week. In addition,
midfielder and Home Grown product Nico Muniz, who entered the RSL camp this
week after agreeing to terms on a contract that will begin in 2012, also
featured, the 18-year-old playing the full 90 minutes on the day. While Beltran
was forced to leave late after picking up a late knock, his fellow outside back
Chris Wingert saw his first action of any kind since suffering a broken right
wrist during a fall back on August 13 with a sturdy first half of play.

The
Real Salt Lake Reserves will return to action on Saturday, October 8, when the
division-leading Chicago Fire come to XanGo Field.